Christmas Story: A Lost Christmas? By Magnificent Marvel

Thank you Magnificent Marvel for entering the Christmas Fiction Contest. Here is their story...

(By Dan Peyton)

Over the bleak, cold arctic north a large BADGE landing craft buzzed through the gray skies. Gliding next to it was the stone hero Gargoyle, keenly watching the white land below.

Nova sat in the command seat of this large craft while his trusty robots managed the controls. He touched a comm device attached to his ear, “Anything yet, Gar?”

Gar answered, “Just snow. I...WATCH OUT!”

The proximity alarm went off and the whole craft lurched to the side as something slammed into them. The whole craft spun out of control, the three robots on the bridge rolled about like toys in a storm while Nova kept his firm grip on the command chair.

Nova looked out the front windows as they fell out of the sky and slammed into the ground. Waves of white powder spewed from either side of the ship as they plowed across the frozen north. After the sliding came to a stop, Nova shoved the emergency exit open and jumped out.

Gar landed next to him, "Sir, look!"
A demon approached,“Ah, Director Nova. It’s been a while.”

“What is it this time, Krampus? You and I both know you’re unable to get into Santa’s palace.”

Krampus resembled a man with shaggy hair all over his body, long demonic horns on his head, a long tail, and goat-like legs. He smiled at Nova with those fangs of his, “True, I could never get into that place. But, things have changed.”
“What are you talking about?”

Krampus answers, “These Morphons are spectacular little blessings, now aren’t they? Some humans have been turned almost into gods with them, and some into demons...depends on what they do with them I suppose. I, already being nearly a god myself, found them to be most delightful.”

Nova growled, “What have you done?”

“What I was always meant to do, punish the nasty little brats of this world. And with Santa out of my way, I think I can do my job unhindered. I think I will go eat at least ten thousand children, for starters. I believe that should make up for the lost years with Santa holding me back. Then, who knows? Maybe I’ll eat a few thousand more, all before Christmas.”

“No, you can’t,” Nova exclaimed.

Krampus laughed, “Who will stop me? Without Santa’s cheer, and morphons surging through my body, I am invulnerable. Now, I think I’ll start with a nice aged appetizer.” He jumped at Nova but was blindsided by a full-body slam from Gar. Without a second thought, Gar punched the demon hard enough to send him sprawling ten feet backward across the snow.

“Stay away, monster,” Gar commanded.

Krampus sat there, wiping a trickle of blood from his nose. “You’re an interesting foe. I’ll enjoy playing with you when I’m done. But, alas, I have other plans.” He vanished in a black puff of smoke, leaving only a cackle in its wake.

Nova let out a furious scoff, “This is serious.”
"What was that thing?" Gar asked.
"A demon who dines on little children. Since you can fly, head back to BADGE HQ and alert the leagues that Krampus must be defeated. I’ll stay here and call on any heroes who can help me find Santa and set this all straight. GO!”

Gar took to the skies while Nova headed back into his wrecked ship. He activated his comm, “Nova to all heroes, I need anyone who can help me find Santa, this is a matter of planetary emergency.”

(By Magnificent Marvel)

All around the globe cell phones beeped with the emergency distress calls. Heroes woke from their long winter nap to check their phone, bleerly staring at the screen. After a moment looking unbelieving at the flashing red screen, supers all around the world leapt out of bed with a clatter and quickly got dressed in their suits. They emerged from their doors seeing dark robotic elves trying to break into houses and steal children from the sledding hills, magic flashed and arrows flew, robots started exploding into coal powered mush in the snow..

Meanwhile, Krampus used the chaos of the situation to teleport into house after house, stealing children from their beds without anyone noticing, bringing them to his dark lair in the frigid ice of the south pole. The children shivered from both fear and the cold, crying out for help.

From his viewpoint in the sky, Magnificent Marvel heard the cries of parents, the shrieks of children being woken as they were kidnapped, and the smell of brimstone as Krampus disappeared. He quickly flew along, following the path, and eventually made it to the southern coast of South America. It was only a small logical jump from there to search Antarctica.

Landing on the ice of Antarctica, Magnificent Marvel shivered, thanking his Morphon powers for the fire coursing through his veins to prevent him from freezing. He slowly flew over the ice, scanning with his x-ray vision for anything out of the ordinary. After finding many waddles of penguins, a pod of seals, and a few prehistoric creature frozen into the ice, he finally found a spot that mysteriously blocked his vision. Magnificent Marvel landed to check it out.

He quietly sneaked into the base, turning invisible to avoid the cameras, and floating slightly off the ground to prevent any footprints in the snow. Turning his body into liquid form, he slipped through the cracks in the door, moving quickly enough to prevent being frozen from the frigid weather outside. Once inside the lair he discovered a Krampus sitting by a warm fire, watching the children shiver and freeze, through a thin translucent sheet of ice, in their frozen cell,. Magnificent Marvel knew that he would not be able to break the children out without Krampus noticing and stopping him, so with a heavy sigh he retreated from the layer to a safe shelter outside the lair.

Magnificent Marvel wracked his brain seeking a solution to save the children and Christmas at the same time, and suddenly an idea came forward. He would replace the children with look alikes and take down krampus at the same time. With a mighty whoosh, Magnificent Marvel leaped into the air speeding to the nearest land to gather supplies. Settling into a shop, he worked with Morphon Powered speed to mix the flour, molasses, and brown sugar, making them into full sized gingerbread children. Then he added the special ingredient to his recipe, schnapps, which the world knows is a way to persuade Krampus to leave you alone. After laying them out, he used his laser eyes to cook the gingerbread in record time. Gathering up the newly baked gingerbread children, he zipped back to the south pole.

When Krampus let out a yawn, Magnificent Marvel teleported into the room, switching out the gingerbread children for real things and laying down a subtle glamour to make the giant cookies look like the real thing. Then hid the children in another room for safety. Immediately after completing them Krampus stood, rubbed his belly hungrily, and opened a door in the ice with the swipe of a hand. Without stopping to think or even chew, he grabbed glamoured cookies and threw them down his throat, each cookie child causing his belly to engorge further. After eating the last child in the cell, he let out a mighty belch that shook them room. Then, a moment later, started staggering on his feet and hiccuping at a more rapid pace.

Krampus was clearly drunk. Not just slightly so, he was completely snookered. Magnificent Marvel gave himself a quick glamour to look like jolly old St. Nick himself, and stepped out of the shadows. “Well Krampus you drunken sot, what do you have to say for yourself? I’m here, free of your curse and power, and ready to stop you.”

Krampus responded with a drunken lilt and a hiccup, “hic, Santa, wha you doing here? I locked you if your palace with all your wee little friends. Never you mind, you silly little elf, I’ll just stop you here and now.” Krampus attempted to snap his fingers, once, twice, failing to gather up his facilities in his drunken state then sighed and clapped his hands. After a delayed pause, the power that was over the real Santa Claus in the North pole was lifted and focused onto the lair with Magnificent Marvel, Krampus, and the Children. Then Krampus swayed a little bit, gave another hiccup, and fell over onto the ground passed out drunk.

Within a moment the real Santa Claus popped into being within Krampus’s lair, a twinkle in his eyes and a ticked off expression on his lips. He looked down upon the drunken Krampus with utter disdain, wiggled his whiskers, and touched his nose. The spell over the lair poofed out of existence and the children instantly transported safe into the beds. Both Santa and Magnificent Marvel appeared in a warm cozy palace in the North Pole. After giving Magnificent Marvel some hot chocolate to warm him, Santa said “Thank you, Sir for saving me and breaking the spell over my palace. You have saved Christmas for all the good boys and girls out there. We will deal with Krampus in due time, but for now he is to drunk to cause more trouble.”